Where Have All the Flags Gone?

Wow, Flag Day. Just another day on the calendar. Just another part of the patriotic time of the year that starts with Memorial Day, and ends with Independence Day. As I look out my window, I can see only one American Flag-- and it's the one on my front porch. What the hell people, believe it or not, Flag Day is considered a holiday-- sorry, no time off work, not holiday pay, but it's still a holiday. And even if you do not fly the American Flag everyday (in good weather), they ask that it be displayed for state and special holidays: New Year's Day, Presidential Inauguration Day, Lincoln's Birthday, Washington's Birthday, Easter, Mother's Day, Armed Forces Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Constitution and Citizenship Day (17 September), Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Bet you didn't know that.

Do I think people are unpatriotic for not flying the flag today? No. I think their patriotism is misguided. Following 9/11, we witnessed an outpouring of patriotism... we united as a nation-- white, black, hispanic, asian, male, female, adult, child-- we came together as one. And it's a shame it took such a moment for that to happen. In the days and months after, you couldn't turn without seeing a flag. We have since fallen back on those displays, which is fine-- and you will still see the flag flying in front of the houses of the wives and parents of our military servants-- but on a day like Flag Day you have to ask, where are they at? Are we becomming non-chalant about who we are again?

Now, don't get me wrong when I say this. But we are bucking for another ass-kicking at the hands of someone on the other side of the world. Think about it. For 40 years, thanks to the Soviets, we feared that the world was going to end before the next commercial break. We took nothing from granted. Then the Cold War ended, and we stopped fearing attack from the world, and damn if we didn't get bitch-slapped.

[DISCLAIMER: I am not saying that I agree with the ongoings of the attacks of 9/11. They were wrong, and they (whoever really did it-- I know many parties took credit for it) went about it the wrong way. Then again, the attack on the USS Cole didn't really grab our attention. We must realize that there are people in the world who do not agree with our views, and the way we conduct our business... and they actually do have a right to tell us what they think. We've been a nation for just over 200 years. Places like Iraq, Arabia, China have been around over 2,000 years. The United States dictating the policy of the world it kinda like your 5-year-old telling you, the parent, that he should make the rules for the house. That said, yes, we are the most powerful nation in the world (at least we like to think that), and sometimes we must flex our military muscle to ensure the greater good. That doesn't mean that we need to go out and force policy. The best way for us to demonstrate our position of power, is for us to return to our policing state-- emerging occaisionally in a display of our military force that demonstrates that yes, we are still the most powerful nation in the world. We have become aggressors of late, and it is eating up our military resources-- again, I ask you to think... we are dealing with 20 or 30 problem areas in the world, and using bullets and missiles and bombs and ships and aircraft to do it-- don't you think we are spreading ourselves a little thin, I mean, our RESERVES and NATIONAL GUARD are in the battlefields of the world right now, when they are really supposed to be back home filling the role the military needs to domestically. If someone wanted to, they could take advantage of us, and we'd be pretty much powerless to do anything. Fortunately, since 9/11, the world has been kind enough not to attack the innocent businessmen here in the United States. As I said, they way the attacks of 9/11 went down was wrong. Am I saying we deserved the attacks? No, but we should have expected someone to vent their frustrations on us. And they should have done so through our military channels. Give us a chance to defend ourselves, don't go after a 3rd year accountant on the 85th floor of an office building because you don't like our government's policy-- if your beef if with the government, go for them, if your beef is with the military, there's your target. A lot of people died in an unnecessary cause-- something they had no part of, other than living in this great nation.]

But once again, we are lulling ourselves into our laxidasical ways. Back to our internal hatred for each other, back to our individuality-- and that's not what this nation is about. Things the flag represents... OUR FREEDOM. We need wake up once again, and not take what we have for granted. And it starts by knowing what we are doing, and why. Even the colours of our flag stand for something-- they just don't make the flag look good. Red is for hardiness and courage, white is for purity and innocence, and blue is for vilgilance, perseverance, and justice-- and suddenly my little disclaimer rant makes a lot more sence, doesn't it? Those 13 stripes, they represent where we started, and the the 50 stars are what we have become-- ONE NATION, UNDER GOD (or whatever you want to call him), INDIVISIBLE.